Asphalt treating implement



Nov. 7, 1961 c. M. ELLIS 3,007,379

ASPHALT TREATING IMPLEMENT Filed April 20, 1959 I ENTOR. [bar/:5 M. ///5 3,667,379 Patented Nov. 7, 1961 inc 3,007,379 ASPHALT TREATING IMPLEMENT Charles M. Ellis, 510 Locust, Liberty, Mo. Filed Apr. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 807,401 4 Claims. (Cl. 94-50) This invention relates to equipment for treating surfaces of asphalt or like material, such as streets, playgrounds and parking areas, and more particularly, to a heated, surface treating implement in the nature of a roller.

The most important object of the present invention is to provide a relatively small and fully portable device that may be easily operated by one man. and that due to its nature, may be employed in areas where large power rollers cannot operate.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an asphalt treating implement that is simple and economical in construction and operation.

A still further aim of this invention is to provide a compact and completely portable implement that may be independently operated by virtue of having, as an integral part thereof, a fuel supply, a roller, and a burner for heating the roller.

A yet further aim of this invention is to provide an asphalt treating implement having a roller, the burner being disposed in association with the roller in such a manner that it imparts to the desired surfaces of the roller a maximum amount of heat but yet does not overheat other parts of the roller which are not actually used to treat the surface material.

A further important object of the invention is to provide an asphalt treating implement having a roller, one end of which is flat for the purpose of permitting the treatment of asphalt that is immediately adjacent a vertical or upright surface such as a building, curb or the like. This feature, coupled with the portability of the implement makes it extremely advantageous for use in small areas where it is impossible or impractical to use a larger machine.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an asphalt treating implement with a fuel tank affixed to the frame thereof, which fuel tank may be adapted to receive a variety of types of fuels; means for supplying the fuel under pressure from the tank to a burner disposed upon the axle of the roller and partially within and partially without the confines of the roller; and a manually operable valve in the supply means within convenient reach of the operator, all to the end that the flow of fuel to the burner may be easily and quickly regulated and the maximum amount of heat obtained when the implement is in use.

A yet further aim of the instant invention is to provide, in an asphalt treating implement, a burner which is mounted upon the axle thereof and around which the roller rotates where-by the innermost surface of the roller is heated as the implement is in operation.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my oopending application Serial No. 641,636, filed February 21, 1957 for an invention entitled Asphalt Treating Implement and now abandoned.

Other objects of the present invention include many details of construction provided to carry out the abovementioned primary aims, all of which will be made clear during the course of the following specification, reference being made to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an asphalt treating implement, parts thereof being broken away for clarity;

P16. 2 is a fragmentary side view with parts broken away for clarity; and,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view through a portion of the axle of the implement.

As clearly shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing, the illustrative embodiment of the asphalt treating implement includes as its component parts, a frame, broadly designated by the numeral 10, having a laterally offset portion 12 and a handle 14. Rotatably mounted on the frame 10, by means of an axle 16, carried by the offset portion 12, is a hollow rollers 18. Also mounted upon axle 16 is a conventional burner 20, which is supplied with fuel from a tank 22 through a tube 24. Immediately below tank 22 is a conventional needle valve 26 that is coupled with tank 22 and tube 24 by fittings 28 and 30 respectively. Valve 26 is disposed in such a manner that it is in convenient reach of the operator of the implement and is easily operable whereby the flow of fuel from the tank 22 to burner 20 may be easily and quickly regulated by manipulation of the valve 26 as the implement is being used.

The fuel tank 22 is made of steel or other suitable material and is adapted to hold fuel in the nature of a distillate under pressure which is developed through the introduction of air into the tank by a suitable pump through air inlet valve 32 located atop the tank 22. Such fuel, as above-mentioned, may take the form of kero: sene or propane and the pump which is used to introduce air through inlet 32 may be mounted upon tank 22 by means of brackets 33. The top of tank 22 also embodies a capped filling tube 34 and a pressure gage '36. The tank 22 is preferably cylindrical in configuration but may take other forms and is mounted upon the frame 10 by means of suitable brackets 38 and 40.

As best shown in FIG. 1 axle 16 has a substantial portion 42 thereof extending outwardly from the confines of roller 18. The outermost end 4-4 of portion 42 of axle 16 is provided with a bore 46 extending inwardly from said end 44, said portion 42 of axle 16 also being provided with openings 48 and 51 respectively, disposed laterally of and in communication with the bore 46. Fittings 52 and 54 are mounted in openings 48 and 50 respectively, and the latter joins burner 20. The outermost open end of bore 46 is closed by a plug 56, thus preventing the escape of fuel which is received by bore 46 through tube 24, fitting 52 and opening 48. From bore 46 the fuel passes upwardly through opening 50, fitting 54 and into the burner 20.

The burner 20 is fixedly mounted on axle 16 by any suitable means and remains stationary with the axle 16 while the roller 18 revolves thereabout. It has been found that burner 20 should be disposed upon axle 16 in such a position that substantially half of the burner lies within the confines of roller 18 and the other half extends outwardly and lies without the confines of said roller 18. Such placement of the burner is regarded as essential not only for the purpose of allowing a maximum amount of air to reach the burner 20 and aid in combustion but also to allow burner 20 to impart to roller 18 a maximum amount of heat whereby the portion of the roller 18 in contact with the material to be treated is heated to a maximum degree while the remaining portions of the roller 18, which need not be heated during the operation of the device, have imparted thereto as little heat as is possible. Thus, it is seen that in operation of the implement, the burner 20 imparts heat to the innermost surface 58 of the hollow roller 18, which heat is in turn conducted to the outer, smooth surface 60 of the roller 18 and thence to the material to be treated.

To allow burner 26 to be mounted in the position abovedescribed and to obtain the maximum results therefrom when the implement is in operation, hollow, cylindrical roller 18 has a fiat ring 62 secured thereto at the end thereof in closest proximity to burner 20. Ring 62 extends inwardly toward the axis of rotation of roller 18 only a slight distance from surface 58 leaving the major portion of said end of roller 18 open. Secured to ring 62, preferably at points equidistant thereabout, are a plurality of spiders 64 which are substantially L-shaped in configuration and have the ends thereof opposite those secured to ring 62 secured to a bushing 66 which is rotatably carried by portion 42 of axle 16. Bushing 66 is held in position with respect to said axle 16 by means of a collar 68 which is fixedly carried by portion 42 of axle 16 by means of setscrew 70; and a ring '72 which is formed as a part of the lowermost end of lateral extension 12. Portion 42 of axle 16 is secured to said ring 72 by means of setscrew 74. Manifestly the fixing of ring 72 to axle 16 prevents said axle 16 from rotating in ring 72 when the implement is in operation. By the same token collar 68 prevents the axial movement of the spiders 64 and roller 18 which is connected thereto when the implement is in operation.

The end of roller 18 opposite from that which carries Spiders 64 is provided with a circular end plate 76 which is flat and has a plurality of openings 77 formed therein for the purpose of allowing additional air to enter roller 18 and reach burner 26 whereby to support combustion. Afflxed to circular end plate 76 at substantially the center thereof and extending inwardly is a bearing 78 which receives the end of axle 16 opposite end 44. Carried by axle 16 adjacent bearing 78 is a locking collar 80 which is suitably secured to axle 16 by means of a set screw such as 82. Said locking collar 80 serves to further prevent the axial movement of roller 18 with respect to axle 16.

A baffle plate 84 is provided at substantially the center of roller 18, said baffle plate 84 being cylindrical in configuration and suitably secured to the inner surface 58 of roller 18. Said baffle plate 84 is provided with a plurality of openings 86 which allow passage of air between compartment 88 of roller 18 which is formed between bafile plate 84 and one end plate 76 and compartment 90 which is formed at the opposite end of roller 18 between baffle plate 84 and ring 62. Baffle plate 84 also serves to distribute the heat generated by burner 20 evenly over the surfaces 58 and 68 of roller 18 and furthermore prevents the heat from melting or otherwise damaging locking collar 80 and bearing 78.

In operation fuel is placed in tank 22 and suitable pressure is introduced thereinto by means of air inlet 32. Needle valve 26 is then opened allowing the passage of fuel along line 24 and into burner 20. The implement is then operated by using handle 14 which is provided with grips such as 92, it being noted that handle pottion 14 is telescoped within hollow member 94 of frame 10, whereby handle 14 may be extended and fixed in place by utilization of wing nut such as 96. Such a telescoping arrangement of handle portion 14 with respect to the remainder of the frame allows the user of the asphalt treating implement to stand and work at some distance from the actual surface being treated and when the work being done with the implement is in the nature of patching or the like, it is apparent that the provision of an extensible handle such as 14 makes it unnecessary for the operator of the implement to walk upon the patch. Thus, as the implement is operated by use of handle 14, axle 16 remains stationary by virtue of being held by ring 72 and setscrew 74 and the roller 18 and its associated spiders 64 rotate about axle 16, the heat emanating from burner 20 serving to evenly heat inner surface 58 and thus outer surface 60 of roller 18 as the same is operated. If an excess of material accumulates on the outer surface 60 of roller 18 there is provided a scraper element 93 which is disposed at the lowermost end of frame It in such a position that it will remove any unwanted material which might adhere to outer surface 69.

It is obvious that the asphalt treating implement herein disclosed is a preferred form only and that many 4 changes and modifications may be made without departing from the broad principles of the invention, and it is, therefore, desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An asphalt surface treating implement comprising an elongated frame; a laterally offset portion at one end thereof; an axle carried by said portion; a hollow roller rotatably mounted on said axle and laterally spaced from the axle end of the offset portion to provide an open space therebetween, said roller having an inner end disposed within said offset portion; open support means integral with said roller laterally spacing the inner end of the roller from the offset portion and having a portion rotatably coupled with the axle; a burner mounted on the axle and disposed partially within said open space and partially within the roller; a fuel supply tank for the burner mounted on the frame; means for supplying fuel to the burner from the tank; and manually manipulablc means in the fuel supply means for controlling the fiow of fuel to the burner from the tank.

2. An asphalt surface treating implement comprising an elongated frame; a laterally offset portion at one end thereof; an axle carried by said portion transversely to said frame; a hollow cylindrical roller carried by said axle and laterally spaced from the axle end of the offset portion to provide an open space therebetween; said roller having an open inner end disposed within said offset portion; a support at the outer end of said roller, said support being provided with a bearing rotatably mounted on the axle; a spider integral with said roller at its inner end and extending laterally therefrom towards said offset portion; said spider rotatably coupling the inner end of the roller with said axle adjacent said offset portion whereby to laterally space said inner end of the roller from said offset portion and dispose said outer end of the roller to one side of the frame; a burner mounted on the axle and disposed partially within said open space and partially within the roller at said inner end thereof; a fuel supply tank for the burner mounted on the frame; and means for supplying fuel to the burner from the tank.

3. An asphalt surface treating implement comprising an elongated frame; a laterally offset portion at one end thereof; an axle carried by said portion transversely to said frame; a hollow cylindrical roller carried by said axle and laterally spaced from the axle end of the offset portion to provide an open space therebetween, said roller having an inner end disposed within said offset portion; a support at the outer end of said roller, said support being provided with a bearing receiving said axle; a plurality of spiders integral with said inner end of the roller and extending laterally outwardly therefrom toward said offset portion, said spiders rotatably coupling said inner end of the roller with said axle adjacent said offset portion whereby to laterally space said inner end of the roller from said axle end of the offset portion; a burner mounted on the axle and disposed partially within said open space and partially within the roller at said inner end thereof; and means for supplying fuel to the burner.

4. An asphalt surface treating implement comprising an elongated frame; a laterally offset portion at one end thereof; an axle carried by the end of said portion; a hollow cylindrical roller rotatably mounted on said axle and laterally spaced from the axle and of the offset portion to provide an open space therebetween, said roller having an inner end disposed within said offset portion; a wall at the outer end of said roller, said wall being provided with a bearing receiving said axle; a ring at said inner end of the roller; a plurality of spiders integral with said ring and extending outwardly therefrom toward said axle end of the offset portion, said spiders being rotatably coupled with said axle adjacent said axle end of the 6 offset portion whereby to laterally space said inner end of References Cited in the file of this patent the roller from said axle end of the offset portion and UNITED STATES PATENTS dispose said outer end of tne roller to one side of the frame; a burner mounted on the axle and disposed par- 524,939 Denmson 1894 tially within said open space and partially within the 5 1,509,236 GrFem Sept 1924 roller at said inner end thereof; a fuel supply tank for the 1,626,879 Shldler May '1927 burner mounted on the frame; means for supplyin fuel to the burner from the tank; manually m-anipulable r neans FOREIGN PATENTS in the fuel supply means for controlling the flow of fuel 230,760 Great Britain Mar. 19, 1925 to the burner from the tank; and a handle on the op- 10 posite end of the frame from the laterally oilset portion. 

